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The boomerang effect of brand personality congruency in a product-harm crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Tom Joonhwan Kim

    (NEOMA Business School, Reims, France)

  • Youjae Yi

    (Business School, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea)

  • Jongan Choi

    (Department of Psychology, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon-si, Korea)

Abstract

This research examines how personality congruency between brands and consumers affect consumers’ attribution and brand evaluation in a product-harm crisis. Results show that the negative influence of a product-harm crisis on brand evaluation is stronger for consumers with high personality congruency than for consumers with low personality congruency. Consumers with high personality congruency feel more disappointment, which leads to attribution toward internal factors of the company, blame toward the brand, and consequently lower purchase intentions. This research suggests that brand personality congruency, although generally assumed to have positive effects on brand evaluation, can have negative effects in a product-harm crisis. JEL Classification: M31

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Joonhwan Kim & Youjae Yi & Jongan Choi, 2020. "The boomerang effect of brand personality congruency in a product-harm crisis," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 45(4), pages 645-661, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:45:y:2020:i:4:p:645-661
    DOI: 10.1177/0312896219895059
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Attribution; brand personality; disappointment; product-harm crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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